


'Tis A Gift

by leiascully



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Adoption, Child Loss, F/M, Gift Giving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 01:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5028217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiascully/pseuds/leiascully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every year they buy William a gift for his birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	'Tis A Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline: post-Season 9 through IWTB  
> A/N: Written for the XF Writing Challenge, prompt was "gifts".  
> Disclaimer: _The X-Files_ and all related characters are the property of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and Fox Studios. No profit is made from this work and no infringement is intended.

Every year they buy William a gift for his birthday.

It doesn't matter where they are. They started it on the run, on the road. Scully saw a Toys 'R Us and tapped Mulder's arm. "Pull over," she said. "I need to do something."

He nodded. They went in together and browsed the aisles. Couples nodded approvingly at them, and Mulder reflected that for once, their outsides matched their insides. He reached for Scully's hand, and she let him twine his fingers through hers. 

"There's so much here," she murmured.

"You'll know," he said. 

Scully bought an impossibly soft stuffed dog that played lullabies. Mulder bought a blanket, thinking of the time he had slept in a chair with newborn William on his chest, the baby's fussing soothed by the warmth, and Scully had come in wearily to cover them with the blanket from her couch. 

They didn't talk about the things they'd bought, but they did it again the next year, and the next. 

They leave many things behind over the years, but never the gifts. The gifts stack up from car to car, and then from apartment to apartment, and then, finally, they pile them in the closet in the house in Virginia. The gifts tell a story of growth and change and possibility. There are baby toys and toddler toys and toys for the child and then the teen their son must be. There are books and a Yankees hat, Lego sets and art supplies. Mulder thinks every year about a bicycle, but that's too tangible a reminder. It won't fit in the closet. Their grief is contained to these boxes, these bags, this small space that they only open a few times a year. 

They may never have the chance to give these gifts to their William, to watch his eyes light up, but every year they say to him, "We remember. We love you." It will never be enough, but the gesture is soothing, like lighting a candle on a dark night to commemorate a miracle. By the end of the night, the candle sputters, gutters; the flame dips and dims and fades into a curl of smoke. The miracle endures.


End file.
